When an aircraft is in flight, it can be difficult to detect when sub-systems or components of an aircraft begin to operate abnormally, and/or to correctly diagnose the specific source that is causing that sub-system or component to operate abnormally. While these abnormal operating conditions may persist after the aircraft has landed, in many cases they do not, which can make it even more difficult to correctly diagnose the specific source that is causing that sub-system or component to operate abnormally.
There is a need for methods and systems for monitoring the health of an aircraft and the aircraft's various components and sub-systems. It would be desirable to provide methods and systems that can automatically detect abnormal conditions that indicate when one or more sub-systems or components of an aircraft have experienced degradation in performance. It would also be desirable if such methods and systems can identify the specific source(s) within those particular sub-systems or components that are causing the degradation in performance so that corrective actions can be taken with respect to the identified sub-systems or components prior to fault indication or failure. It would also be desirable if such methods and systems execute automatically and do not require flight crew intervention. It would also be desirable to provide methods and systems that allow for ground personnel to request, collect and communicate aircraft data during flight of an aircraft. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.